


badlands

by ghiblidoyoung



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Bar, F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, also a little het ngl, clubs asf, dojae are a thing but like not really, gayyyy asf, i don't know how yeri and lucas got together, jaemin's a stripper, johnny's an idiot but a fun dude, jungwoo and the female oc are also strippers, kinda cringe writing cuz it's my first work on ao3, kinda nsfw, more ships will be added oops, olympus, stripper woomin for life, yuh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26298178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghiblidoyoung/pseuds/ghiblidoyoung
Summary: in which johnny suh owns a nightclub for the most powerful beings in the world. the only catch is johnny's the greek god of sleep, and the most powerful beings in the world just happen to be ancient greek gods. but this greek god of sleep sure does know how to party!
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Kim Yerim | Yeri/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Na Jaemin/Park Jisung, dong sicheng | winwin/ choi yerim | choerry, liu yangyang/park chaeyoung | rose, mark lee/kim hongjoong, qian kun/kang yeosang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	1. badlands

**Author's Note:**

> \- lowkey inspired by halsey's alone music video and the tv show, lucifer.  
> \- the actions displayed by the characters are not meant to represent greek mythology or the real life versions of nct, exo's kai, or the boyz' kevin.  
> \- this might be a long au, so bear with me.  
> \- future reference: olympus will always be referred to as "the city" or "back home" or "olympus"  
> \- check ending notes for the identities of the characters in this au  
> \- dojae has the highest amount of plot development in this story, but so does johnny so it's like an ennana line (third wheel johnny) fic  
> \-- all the characters mentioned in the first chapter will probably be the most frequently mentioned/showed

"welcome to badlands. the name's mark lee. that's johnny suh, the owner. what can i get for you today?" mark lee said, wiping down on a shot glass, not looking up from his job.

"after a long expedition around the world, you'd think one of my closest friends would actually care... mark how've you been buddy?" jeong jaehyun devilishly grins, almost glowing a magenta-ish color under the club's strobe lights. 

mark's nonchalant expression turned into a confused one, once he heard the older man's baritone laugh. 

"jeong fucking jaehyun. i can't believe it. you're back? not a call from you once in the past six months." mark scoffed. he shook his head as his boss, johnny suh made his way over to the duo. 

"well well well, if it isn't jeong jaehyun. did you finish transferring the souls into their host bodies?" johnny eyed jaehyun's figure up and down, judging him. 

"i did, mr. suh. don't forget it was both of us who found the box and released them." jaehyun rolled his eyes. "two washington apple's please." he ordered, and mark complied. 

"i would never forget. it was the most exhausting year of my life." johnny gulped the shot down.

"please youngho, you ditched me after six months to take care of mark and this damn nightclub you two started." jaehyun took the shot right after johnny. 

"hey! don't blame me! mark's the one who's dionysus. i'm just hypnos. i don't even know why i'm the owner of this place!" johnny raised his hands in defense, innocence painted on his face. 

"i wasn't the one who released the souls. don't drag me into this mess. plus everyone knows the god of sleep secretly likes to party." mark deadpanned, walking away from the two men he liked to call "worse than donghyuck" and that was truly saying something. 

jaehyun and johnny glared at each other. ten seconds later, they engulfed themselves in a bone-crushing hug, each happy to see the other. mark gazed at the two best friends, wondering when his best friend, zhong chenle, aka aegaeus, would come home from the war. figuratively that is. what would a river god do fighting in the war? 

"so, jaehyun? you haven't once mentioned kim since you got here." johnny spoke, asking mark for two glasses of wine. but the wine god anticipated this and slide two glasses over in an instant. 

"what's there to mention? he clearly made his choice six months ago." jaehyun muttered, holding the bottom of the wine glass. "besides, he hasn't contacted me in a year."

"to be honest, jae, you haven't been very reachable." a newcomer said, sitting down at the bar. 

"qian kun. fancy seeing you here." johnny offered a gentle smile. "shouldn't you be tending to a fire back in the city?" 

"it can survive an hour without me. news travels fast here. welcome back, jaehyun." both men smiled at each other, dimples on full display. 

"how has life been, kun?" jaehyun asks, resting his chin on his palm, still sipping on the red wine mark had supplied. 

"it's been great. yeosang is currently on a business trip so i'm just hanging around the city. someone saw you here so i just stopped by to say hello. otherwise you know i wouldn't leave the fire to go to badlands. no shade, john." kun joked, raising his hands up for emphasis. 

"how is yeo-" mark got cut off by johnny sending him a fierce look that states "shut up".

mark made a gesture that showed himself zipping his lips and throwing away the key. jaehyun was still so confused by the younger generation, even if mark was just two years younger than himself. 

jaehyun smiled, pushing back the dirty barstool. 

"i think i'll take my leave now. mark, johnny, kun, thank you for the drinks and the chitchat. john do i have to pay?" he asked, shaking hands with everyone because it had been a long time since he had seen his friends. 

"no of course not. anything for my best friend." johnny beamed. "thank you for finishing the job. mark was pestering me about how he couldn't take care of the club." 

jaehyun exited outside into the cold, dead, night air, he inhaled sharply. why did the name "kim" matter to him? he knew kim dongyoung was never going to be his.

the man walked away from badlands, leaving the neon pink and red lights behind, and realized something.

as the god of war, he would do anything to get what he wanted. and nothing would get in his way.


	2. drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- doyoung focused  
> \- yuta and doyoung are roommates  
> \- jaemin is basically doyoung's son and lives with doyu,, he literally calls doyoung "dodad"

"kim! why didn't you tell me jaehyun was back?" a silver-haired man ran into the living room of the loft he shared with his best friend. 

"first of all, don't call me kim. it's doyoung to you, yuta. and second, jeong isn't important." doyoung rolled his eyes from where he was standing in the kitchen. 

"yes he is? dons, this was the man you were literally in love with for two years." yuta placed his hand on doyoung's shoulder turning him around. he stepped back, noticing doyoung's deadly grip on the fillet knife he was using to slice some salmon. 

"i was never in love with that man, in fact i fucking hated him. still do, even after he left all of us in the dust a year ago. i still don't understand how you can tolerate him." doyoung glared at yuta before turning around again to continue preparing their dinner.

"dodad, do we have any cake? oh hey yuta! i didn't know you were back from the bar already?" na jaemin opened the fridge, accidentally ratting out yuta for going to badlands at 5 pm. 

"yuta. you went to badlands? and yes jaem it's on the fourth shelf." doyoung loosened his hold on the knife, disbelief evident in his voice.

"well duh, how did you think i found out about jaehyun returning?" yuta raised his hand in a certain manner, as if to say 'you're an idiot.'

"and why exactly did you think i would want to know about jeong coming back? my life wouldn't change." doyoung snarked, "he's a fucking whore and i'm glad i never truly cared about him."

"whatever you say, doie. jungwoo's coming over in ten minutes for dinner, i hope you made enough for him."

and ten minutes later, jungwoo did arrive. the taller man hugged both yuta and doyoung and did a special handshake with jaemin.

"so you're telling me everyone's here except for sejeong and taeyong? where is taeyong anyway?" jungwoo asked, reaching for a piece of salmon.

"i think sejeong's in the bahamas with chunhei, and taeyong is discussing something with johnny about badlands right now." jaemin spoke, with a mouthful of salad. 

"na jaemin, we don't talk at the dinner table when your mouth is full." doyoung chided, shaking a finger at the younger. 

"yeah yeah dodad, and you also don't have sexual tension with the man you claim to hate. oh wait, you do!" jaemin shot back, popping a bright red cherry tomato into his mouth.

"oh shit did he really go there?" jungwoo whispered, leaning over to yuta.

"jaemin, do not use that tone with me," doyoung stared. 

"oh yeah? well the god of passionate love and desire should know when he sees love, doyoung." the younger chuckled, flipping doyoung off. 

"jaemin, i don't have enough patience for this today. stop. insisting." doyoung said through clenched teeth. 

jaemin, jungwoo, yuta, and doyoung finished eating and jungwoo left the building, probably to clock in to badlands for his stripper nightjob.

"you know doie, i dread the day you realize your feelings for jaehyun, and the possibility that it will be too late." the god of dread closed his door. "goodnight doyoung."

doyoung locks his apartment door, choosing to get some air and cool down after practically arguing with both jaemin and yuta. the park near the apartment building was a perfect location to take a walk, as it was always deserted at this hour. perhaps doyoung would calm down before he had to get back to the underworld. leaving the underworld unguarded for eons was perhaps the dumbest things the ancient greeks had done, but thank zeus cerberus was there to take care of the restless souls.

speaking of zeus, doyoung wondered why the sky was so threatening and cloudy at 11 pm. could jongin really be that moody? it had only been three months since the older man had become zeus, but he already had infinite responsibilities. 

doyoung sat down on the wooden bench, gazing at the lit up playground.

"ah kim. you really haven’t changed at all.” a new, baritone voice chuckled. 

“jeong. you know, yuta and jungwoo actually care that you’re back?” doyoung replied, snarkily. 

“and you? do you not care, kim?” jaehyun asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“i never cared, jeong. you made your decision six months ago and so did i. now why are you here?” doyoung was ready to get up and leave.

“because kim, i wanted to check in on a person i used to know. is that so wrong?” jaehyun leaned back on the bench.

“i’m doing fine, jeong. how about you?” doyoung answered, clearly annoyed but willing to entertain the younger's company for a few more minutes.

“never been better. kim, why do you hate me?” jaehyun chuckled, dryly. 

“jeong, you know my answer to that. we can never be friends.” doyoung shook his head, standing up to leave.

“oh? if being friends doesn’t work out, then what do you think about being lovers, angel? jaehyun grabbed doyoung's wrist, turning the older man around.

"jeong, your face right now makes me want to puke, so beat it before i actually do." doyoung spit out, shaking his wrist from the younger's grasp.

"oh feisty! okay, sir kim, i shall take my leave. see you on our first date, babe." jaehyun winked before getting up and walking away from doyoung.

as doyoung glared holes into jaehyun's back, the god of the dead wished the god of war would drop dead on the ground immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what deities we have discovered so far:
> 
> chenle: aegaeus,, river-god of Skherie  
> kun: hestia, virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state  
> johnny: hypnos, a primordial deity in greek mythology, the personification of sleep  
> mark: dionysus, the god of fertility and wine,, considered a patron of the arts  
> jaehyun: ares, greek god of war  
> yuta: deimos, god of dread & terror  
> jaemin: eros, greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical desire  
> jungwoo: enyo, goddess of war and destruction  
> doyoung: hades, god of the dead, king of the underworld

**Author's Note:**

> uh so basically a little explanation,, johnjae found this box (like the pandora's box) which had entrapped all the souls of the greek gods/goddesses/deities when the religion was overtaken by others and became less widely practiced
> 
> so the deities' souls became freed and roamed earth for one year while johnjae embarked on a journey to find them host bodies 
> 
> basically when taken over by a soul,, your consciousness is still the driving consciousness but some traits of each god is imprinted into your brain and sometimes they can influence your decisions, but not all the time,, and oh yeah did i mention IMMORTALITY is given to the hosts?? like yessss bitch,, 
> 
> also what deities we have discovered so far:
> 
> chenle: aegaeus,, river-god of Skherie  
> kun: hestia, virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state  
> johnny: hypnos, a primordial deity in greek mythology, the personification of sleep  
> mark: dionysus, the god of fertility and wine,, considered a patron of the arts  
> jaehyun: ares, greek god of war


End file.
